Portable electronic devices are ubiquitous in today's society. Such devices include, for example, cell phones, smart phones, wearable devices, portable media players, tablet computers, personal digital assistants, handheld gaming devices, handheld global positioning satellite (GPS) units, image and/or video cameras, and media devices, just to name a few. A portable electronic device is generally configured such that visual or audible information output by the device is presented uniformly across a display screen or from output speakers under an assumption that, in most cases, the user will generally center the device in his or her field of view/hearing when using it. Additionally, the keys and buttons of portable electronic devices are typically configured with default functions, although some devices allow users to manually change button or key functions by proceeding through a series of operations available to the users through electronic menus.
Many portable electronic devices, including wearable devices, require two-handed operations to activate a function. One hand is used to support the device, whether grasped in an open hand or secured to the user's wrist, and the other hand selects a button or contacts a touch screen of the device to activate the function. Other portable electronic devices include accelerometers to recognize certain gestures, but the accelerometers are activated only after a button is pressed. Operations requiring two hands are particularly detrimental to people with active lifestyles in which both hands are not always conveniently available. As a result, users may refrain from experiencing all the benefits of the portable electronic device.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated alone or relative to other elements to help improve the understanding of the various example embodiments of the present invention.